Early look at the ROY chances for the Raptors rookies...

So now that the Dwight trade has shaken up the league, it looks like the dust has finally settled enough to assume that nothing that happens between now and start of training camp will affect a rookie's role on his team. So sounds like a good time to start considering how the rookies stack up in the race for Rookie of the Year award and where the Raps rooks might fall.

So here is how I see the crop grouped. (Note: I didn't rank players in the groups)

These four represent the guys that have both the current skill set and best team situation where they will have the opportunity to put up number. I very much doubt Davis will win it, but as the top pick he certainly will be in the conversation. JV is widely believed to be the guy most teams would have taken 2nd overall in this year's draft. JV will get opportunity with the Raps and will have benefitted from playing in the Olympics this summer. Beal will be lining up next to John Wall and could explode in scoring this year.

My personal vote at this stage is Damian Lillard (the guy I desperately wanted the Raptors to draft but alas...) He will run the offence in Portland and has a legit low post scorer in Lamarcus Aldridge. He can hit the outside shot and should be a beast at attacking the rim.

The fringe
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Harrison Barnes
Dion Waiters

I doubt Kidd-Gilchrist will be able to put up enough numbers on Charlotte to impress voters. He will be a good player, but I just dont see the flashy-enough numbers for the average voter. Barnes could put up huge scoring numbers in GS. Waiters will benefit from playing with Kyrie Irving and could score a lot this year.

I don't think Robinson will get enough PT or touches playing down low with D-Cousins. Ross would be the under-dog that Raps nation would love to get behind, but I think he has an up-hill battle for this year's crown. Rivers will be a bust in my opinion, but on the Hornets he could score a lot and who knows, maybe I'll be wrong and he'll be an efficient scorer too. Harkless jumps up with the trade to Orlando that desperately needs everything. Harkless could produce. PJ3 would be the ultimate upset. I loved the kid in college and in OKC he will likely never see the light of day, but if he can be dependable and versatile, then he could fill the void behind Durant and even play some small ball PF.

I'd love to see a Raptor be considered for ROY.. but the NBA is going to be pumping "the brow" hard core. Davis is going to be their new poster child and as such they will do everything to market the kid and turn him into the next best thing (deservedly or not).

That marketing power will be hard to over come for any of the other rooks. I think it can be done if Davis ends up being mediocre, but the fact that he was already on the USA squad has already given him a huge head start.

I'm expecting the rookie ladder to shift every week with so much talent in this years draft.

My contenders would be

Anthony Davis - Will start from day one and if he can lead all rookies in rebounds and be a leader in blocked shots he'll have a strong chance at claiming the crown. He's not going to blow anyone away with his scoring, but he'll get his fair share of touches on a team that will rely on him to do a bit of everything. The key will be staying healthy.

MKG - Already a leader in the Charlotte locker room. Will start and get all the touches he can handle. The ROY award always seems to come down to stats, so this may hurt MKG a bit as he seems to be good across the board, but not great at any one particular stat.

T. Robinson - Another rookie that will likely be asked to start right away. Of all the rookies he seems to be the guy that has the best opportunity to put up big numbers. Prior to summer league I was thinking he could be the most likely rookie to put up 20 & 10, but he struggled mightily during those games. Playing along side Cousins and Evans may take the pressure off him and allow him to do what he does best which is score and rebound.

Next Tier

Beal - He could have a big year scoring the ball, but he'll be deferring to Wall and Nene whom will see the lions share of the touches. He'll still get his as he was able to play along side a ball dominant PG in college.

Lillard - Lillard might be able a leader among rookies in scoring, but he's playing next to a 20 point scorer in Aldride and Batum is going to be featured prominently in the Blazers line up now that he's landed the big contract. He'll need to surprise people with assist numbers to claim the ROY title.

Waiters - Will get minutes and touches, but only has the ability to dominate the scoring category. If Clevland has a strong season with Waiters leading the way in scoring he has an outside shot

I think Thomas Robinsons game compliments Cousins game and vice versa, I think he will definetly be in the runing for ROY. As for JV there's a lot of question marks: how will his game translate to the NBA? will he have a long learning curve? etc... But I think his game is better suited for the NBA and he could have the samw impact in the centre position like Rubio in the PG position. But right now I agree with you that Lillard is the front runner for ROY, the dude can ball, but again I thought that about Kemba last year, so we'll see how shit pans out...

As much as it pains me to say it, I don't think JV will even be in consideration for ROY (even D-Mo has more chance). It's so much harder for a big man to become ROY, their maturing seems to take much longer.

Ross has a lot more competition for minutes than JV. JV will get his, Ross needs to battle DeRozan, who should be extra motivated to prove something now that Colangelo drafted a player high who most people assume will play DD's position. Then he also has to worry about Fields and Kleiza eating up minutes on the wing. Heck, I could see the Raptors rolling with Lowry and Calderon at times. Kind of like when they used to run it with Ford and Calderon. It's a great way to snap a scoring funk.

JV has a legit shot at ROY IF he can keep his fouls down. A lot of kids coming from Europe have problems with it because you can get away with a lot more overseas. The other IF will be how the voters value the rookies because JV won't have the nicest fantasy stats out of the group but he could be the best defender out of the gate to go along with solid numbers.

Lillard would be a good value bet. Beal as well. Long shots that might pay if shit goes crazy would be Motiejunas and Nicholson and Teague, just because of the situation they find themselves in, if they're good they could all play a lot of minutes.

JV has very little chance. Other than Mike Miller, I don't recall any ROY in the past 10-15 years averaging less than 15PPG, and JV won't get anywhere near that. The judging is tilted heavily towards scorers. Unfortunately, they don't usually value the type of intangibles that JV brings.

JV has very little chance. Other than Mike Miller, I don't recall any ROY in the past 10-15 years averaging less than 15PPG, and JV won't get anywhere near that. The judging is tilted heavily towards scorers. Unfortunately, they don't usually value the type of intangibles that JV brings.

I'd say it's a 3-way race between Beal, Lillard & Davis.

Agreed with your point on scoring. It's not like voting is done by a panel of experienced, basketball intellectuals. We're talking about dumbass announcers and media members. YAY POINTS!!!

Ross has a lot more competition for minutes than JV. JV will get his, Ross needs to battle DeRozan, who should be extra motivated to prove something now that Colangelo drafted a player high who most people assume will play DD's position. Then he also has to worry about Fields and Kleiza eating up minutes on the wing. Heck, I could see the Raptors rolling with Lowry and Calderon at times. Kind of like when they used to run it with Ford and Calderon. It's a great way to snap a scoring funk.

JV has a legit shot at ROY IF he can keep his fouls down. A lot of kids coming from Europe have problems with it because you can get away with a lot more overseas. The other IF will be how the voters value the rookies because JV won't have the nicest fantasy stats out of the group but he could be the best defender out of the gate to go along with solid numbers.

First Teir
-Anthony Davis - NBA will hype him up, he will have minutes, and he actually has defensive skill -problem is that he has no passing points guard to bump up his scoring average, meaning he might end up with 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 7-10 points per game - especially with Rivers, Gordon, & Ryan Anderson all to happy to shoot
-Damian Lillard - He can flat out play, he can shoot, drive, pass, but he has 2 established NBA scorers on his team that will require the majority of touches - so look for 12-15 ppg and 7-10 apg
-JV - If he starts he will put up some numbers, bargnani and lowry should draw double teams which allows JV to be at his best as a hustle role player - if he puts up 10 and 7 and 1 and we make the playoffs he will be in the discussion for ROY (even more so if the raptors have a high defensive rating
-MKG - he might actually be able to put up 12-15 ppg, 2-5 apg, and 3-7 rpg - and with those stats he might get in the discussion

Everyone else who could possible be ROY are scorers - and thus they wont have a chance because i doubt any of them will average enough points to beat out Davis or Lillard

First Teir
-Damian Lillard - He can flat out play, he can shoot, drive, pass, but he has 2 established NBA scorers on his team that will require the majority of touches - so look for 12-15 ppg and 7-10 apg

Everyone else who could possible be ROY are scorers - and thus they wont have a chance because i doubt any of them will average enough points to beat out Davis or Lillard

there is no way lillard gets numbers that high. He'll be lucky if he gets more than 5 apg.

there is no way lillard gets numbers that high. He'll be lucky if he gets more than 5 apg.

Lilliard will start and be the PG - which means he is the primary ball handler, also he is good (there is no denying that) the problem is how good will he be in his first NBA year - and 7 apg is a realistic number for a chris paul type of player
Also what people probably have forgotten is that Lillard was a senior out of college meaning he has experience and will probably acclimate faster to the NBA than the one and done rookies.